Revelation
Revelation of Jesus Christ
Revelation 1:1–20
This book is a record of the apostle John’s revelation of Jesus, which came to him as he was worshipping. Eugene Peterson writes that ‘we are enlisted as participants in a multidimensional act of Christian worship’. John ‘has worship on his mind and is pre-eminently concerned with worship’. God speaks to John as he is worshipping and Jesus is revealed.
The book of Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia minor (v.11), which were pastored by the apostle John who was in exile on the island of Patmos ‘because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus’ (v.9). John sees ‘seven golden lampstands’ (v.12), which he tells us represent the ‘seven churches’ (v.20).
Seven in the Bible is the number of completeness and perfection. So, this can be taken to mean the whole church. It is written for you and me. Jesus calls John to write down what he sees. He begins to unlock the ‘mystery’: ‘The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches’ (v.20). This suggests that every church, including yours, has its own angel. Jesus holds all the churches in his hands.
John, in revealing the nature of spiritual reality, uses poetry, songs, metaphors, visions, symbols and pictures. Parts of the book of Revelation are extremely difficult to understand. But it is worth persevering. This is the only book in the Bible where we are specifically told that those who read it will be blessed: ‘How blessed the reader! How blessed the hearers and keepers of these oracle words’ (v.3, MSG).
It seems that the early Christians had already changed their day of rest and worship from Saturday (the Sabbath) to Sunday. The revelation began ‘On the Lord’s Day…’ (v.10) – the day the Lord was resurrected, in other words, Sunday.
The book of Revelation, like the Bible as a whole, centres on Jesus: ‘Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth’ (v.5). It is very easy to get bogged down in the details of Revelation, but the key is to remain focused on Jesus. The general message of the book is clear – Jesus wins!
